Personal audio-sets, commonly known as headphones, earphones, headsets, and the like, are gaining in popularity. The typical personal audio-set includes a frame containing an audio driver that is usually positioned over or in a wearer's ear. In cases where the audio-set is a headset, a microphone is also typically positioned near the wearer's mouth.
Personal audio-sets are often sold as after-market items for use with audio products that consumers have purchased separately. These audio products usually include a jack or connector that allow for connection of such personal audio-sets. Usually, different manufacturers of a type of audio product have different shaped and/or configured jacks. Accordingly, a purchaser of a personal audio-set usually must purchase an audio-set having the correctly sized and shaped mating fitting to engage the particular jack of their particular audio product.
For example, headsets for use with cellular phones and the like are gaining in popularity. In addition to selecting a headset with the desired style and functions, a purchaser must also limit his or her selection to only those makes and models that have a mating fitting that operably engages the jack of their cellular phone. Since there are a large number of cellular phone models and manufacturers, many of which have different sized and shaped jacks, many stores limit their inventories to only one or two headsets with a particularly shaped and configured mating fitting. Accordingly, a customer's range of available headset choices is often unduly limited.
Moreover, should a customer ever replace their cellular phone with a newer model, and their new cellular phone have a different shaped and/or configured jack than their older phone, a customer must purchase an entirely new headset since their older headset will no longer connect to the new cellular phone. Similarly, a headset customer may not be able to use their headset with other headset-compatible audio products, such as their wired or wireless home telephones, because the headset's mating fitting is incompatible with the other headset-compatible audio products.